UVA v. Miami game in Charlottesville

We went to Charlottesville on November 10th for the UVA v. Miami game. We go every two years when Miami plays UVA at home since Dave went to Miami undergrad. It was a perfect day and the noon game time worked really well for our schedule.  Zachary was so good for the whole game but he was filthy from climbing all over the stands.

 Charlotte and AJ did really well too. They enjoyed the half time show the most and the constant supply of snacks.

This one is for you, Dad. Check out the formation shape at halftime! They did a nice Veteran's Day tribute during halftime.

Hooray, UVA won! Wahoowa!

Zachary's 1st Birthday Celebration

 Baby boy is ONE!

 My parents were supposed to come up to celebrate the weekend of Zachary's birthday, but AJ was sick with a bad fever and sore throat so we decided to cancel. We had a small family dinner of sushi and cake. It was perfect.

 Birthday boy loved his double chocolate pound cake but didn't eat much. He enjoyed the mess making for sure!

 Over thanksgiving weekend, we finished celebrating with presents from Memme, Poppy and Gammie.

 What better to do with new shoes than eat them?

 Charlotte, the sweet big sister, showing off his new clothes.

 Memme and her youngest grandchild. He's the most photogenic baby I've ever seen!

 Trying to get a shot with the grandparents and grandkids before they hit the road.

His favorite "toy" to grab out of the cabinets at the moment is my hand mixer. We love you, Zachary!

Zachary is ONE!

My sweet sweet baby boy is ONE today. This makes me happy but also breaks my heart a bit. He's been the easiest, happiest baby ever! I'm afraid God won't give me another one like him. I know the tough toddler years are ahead, but I just can't imagine him throwing a tantrum or telling me "no" and stomping his foot. It just doesn't seem in his nature. Don't worry - I'm a realist. It will happen. Not if but when. But really, he just makes be so happy everyday. I hug him, squeeze him, and kiss him all day long. When I'm frustrated with the big kids, all I have to do is hold Zachary and I find my calm happy place. God really knew what he was doing when he gave me this sweet angel. We love you, Zachary! And we're thankful everyday for you. Happy 1st Birthday, my love.

Happy Halloween

This year we had Luke Skywalker (although if you asked AJ, he would correct you and say he was Mighty Mouse...that's a story for another post), a Sweet Frog, and Laura Ingalls. This was the best of the bunch of pictures I tried to take on the Saturday before Halloween on our way to a "trunk or treat" event. We had several fun days of celebrating at various events in our costumes. Whew! That's all over and now it's on to Zachary's birthday and Thanksgiving around the corner. Let's not forget election day in 4 days! God bless America.

Apple Picking - Crooked Run Orchard

 We went apple picking for the first time last week and it was great. We picked about 15lbs which was enough to make 4 apple crisps. We gave most of them away to families with new babies. Crooked Run Orchard is a PYO (pick your own) apple orchard. There were no crazy slides, hay rides or other attractions, but the kids thought it was perfect. We went on a weekday afternoon and felt like we were the only ones there. Their favorite part was climbing the trees to get the best apples.

Pumpkins and fall

 Charlotte and AJ wanted me to take a picture of them on their "boat". Now that the weather is getting colder, I'm sure there will be many creations like this. I love seeing and hearing what they come up with.

 A picture says a million words...

 Sweet brothers in matching outfits (unintended). This was the first cool day here. I actually bought AJ sweatpants at Costco because he was so cold in his shorts.

 Memme sent Halloween care packages with these cute felt faces for their pumpkins. Thanks, Mom!

 Obligatory fall pumpkin shot with all three kids. We met some friends at Nall's on Friday afternoon and they had a blast. It's a small little pumpkin playground but it's FREE and the kids love it.

Charlotte and her best bud, Jacob. She had to give a presentation this week about her best friend and she chose Jacob. It was really sweet. She's doing really well with her weekly presentations at our co-op on Tuesdays. She has a great teacher and a nice class of eight girls. We're already done with the first quarter!

All in a day!

 Fall is officially here and life is still busy as ever. This particular Saturday has been super busy for Dave. He drove to Richmond last night with his friend, Sean (see above), for a race this morning. It was a 5 mile to the bridge and back swim in a river. Dave finished first for his age group and third overall. It was 37 degrees when the got up this morning and the water was 62 degrees. It was cold but they did it. I'm so impressed. He came home and promptly mowed the lawn with Zachary on his back! There's nothing this man can't do.

 I took all three kids to soccer this morning and afterwards AJ had his team picture. This is such a typical team picture for a bunch of 3 year olds. I contemplated not even showing up because we had to drive to a different elementary school from practice but I'm so glad I did. If he's ever a soccer star someday, we can look back at this picture and laugh.

 And to top off the day, Dave took the kids camping at Burke Lake Park. They were thrilled and lucky to have such an awesome dad.

Zachary is 11 months!

Only one more month to squeeze him into this onesie and then he is ONE! Wow. Love you, buddy.

Zachary - 10 months

These pictures are getting harder and harder to take. He doesn't sit still for long and almost immediately wrinkles the fabric when I lay him down. Good thing I only have two more to take. How is it that he'll be one in two months! I have tons of cute pictures of him that I hope to post soon. Sweetest baby ever!

And we're off!

 Charlotte - age 6

 AJ - age 3.5

First day of school starts for us today! We'll be homeschooling Charlotte again this year and working on 1st grade. AJ will be in preschool three mornings a week. One of those mornings is with our homeschool co-op, Classical Conversations. We're very lucky to have found such a great network of homeschool families at the CC campus that we joined. We'll go one morning a week and the first day went well for all of us. Charlotte did a great job with her presentation (each student gives a presentation on different topics each week!), AJ loved his preschool class of 3 year olds, and Zachary did great in the nursery. I floated around between their three classes but mainly helped with AJ's class. He is with ALL girls, but he didn't even notice. Charlotte came home with a smile and whistling her memory verses! Her favorite part was "everything". After the classroom work is done, everyone goes outside for picnic lunch and playground time. We were out of the house before 8am today so I think it will be early bedtime for everyone. That's an early start after a summer of lounging :)

Charlotte and AJ have a full schedule of activities and educational enrichment. We have at least one thing 7 days a week. I'm not sure that's a good thing, but we'll find the balance. Here's to a great year for everyone!